Summer Has Arrived

One of the most visual ways to know that summer has arrived in our area is blooming crape myrtles.  They've been close to flowering for the last couple of weeks but in the last two days the blossoms have burst forth.  

Our's happens to be this deep rosy pink color but others around town are blue-violet, pale pink, a vivid red violet, and white.

A couple of weeks back, DH re-did the bed in front of our front porch.  The aging, overgrown hostas had been attacked below ground by the voracious moles that bedevil homeowners here.  

These new hostas are planted inside flexible stainless steel mesh bags to protect them from any future mole invasions.

(to help you visualize - each bag fits perfectly inside a 5-gallon paint bucket)

Several of the displaced hostas were relocated into the large above ground pots in our back yard and our next door neighbor gave the rest of them new homes.

The hanging basket purchased for this hook back in the early spring did not thrive; so when I found this trailing mandevilla much like the one that did so well last year, I bought it.  So far it seems very happy.

The outdoor plants are holding their own but with the temperatures now settled in the mid to upper 90s with humidity in that same range, I am staying indoors as much as possible.  

I've finished my DIY wreck this journal project, the one I named Bricolage  (in art or literature, construction or creation from a diverse range of available things).

This page follows the title page.

And those arrows point to this facing page.

I'm happy to report that I actually followed these directions (more or less).

When I first read this prompt, I immediately thought of the rhyming book we read over and over again with Young Man.  

I just couldn't resist the idea so I went with it.

I've previously shared the two page spreads for pink, red, blue, orange, black/white, and yellow.  This is the spread for green.

I really enjoyed creating the journal spreads that were filled with so many random bits and pieces.

Highlighters and a permanent black ink pen were the tools for this spread.

I clearly do a better job of quilting my liberated nested spirals than I do drawing them on paper; but even with the sticking pen issues, I like the way this turned out.

* * *

My next studio goal is to piece the backing for Paint Party (Macnas series no. 12/13) and get the quilt sandwich pin basted.  

I'd love to have the quilt finished before month end but I'm not going to get too upset if the finish runs over a day or two into July. 

(and yes, this backing yardage is a different  fabric than the one I had set aside earlier)

Quiltdivajulie

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"There are no wrong turns.  Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk."

Guy Gavriel Kay

Weather Makes a Difference

This was the scene on Thursday . . .

And this was the same scene less than 24 hours later.  It has been raining off and on ever since.

Three inches in the past 24-hours alone.  

All those thunderstorms have stopped me from doing much sewing or quilting, so instead I've been working with my paper projects.

I've been writing down four letter words in my traveler's journal.

I loaded them into a spreadsheet and alphabetized them so I could easily eliminate duplicates (there were quite a few) .

The edited list flows left to right across the two page spread.

And while I don't have a photo to share, the set of twelve pink collaged index cards are also done . . . 

. . . which meant I could use the extras to fill two more pages in the journal.

I added some larger items from the stash and even found a way to include the word JUBILATION cut from a magazine a long time ago.

Inspired by the name of @Ricki_ticki_tavy's Etsy shop, I've chosen BRICOLAGE as the name for my DIY Wreck It Journal.

* * *

Xanadu is nearly finished and we have a day or so with no significant percentage of rain predicted so it WILL be finished early week.

 I won't be able to gift it for another week or so which means I won't post the finished reveal photos until after the gifting happens.

Quiltdivajulie

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"To thrive in life you need three bones.  A wishbone.  A backbone. and a funny bone."

Reba McEntire

One Foot in Front of the Other

I just had to share this springtime photo of our new hanging begonia basket.  

I wanted to also share a short video of the azalea swaying in the breeze as its blossoms fell like snowflakes.  The soundtrack even featured morning birdsong, but Blogger insists my iPhone video is of a non-supported type.  Sigh.

For those of you who have commented about the Macnas series nearing an end - take heart.

The original series of 12 is increasing to a baker's dozen with this week's addition of YUTORI featuring the fabrics above. 

The rectangles are cut and Yutori's pairs are being sewn as leader enders while I sew together the rows for Paint Party, no. 12.  

 (YUTORI - a Japanese word meaning to slow down simply to be, breathe, listen, and appreciate the richness and beauty of life and nature).

* * *

Two night sleepover with Young Man this weekend - I have a hand work project I'll bring downstairs in case there are moments I can work on it.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Art is a vocation in life.  It's not a job.  It's not a career.  It's not about the money.  It's something you feel you have to do, and you can't stop yourself from doing it."

Tracy Emin, The Guardian, 2019

One Day at a Time

Quilting of Grandiose, Macnas series no. 8, has started.  Honestly, getting bobbins wound and stitching the first few passes is one of the "hurdle" points in every quilt.

That said, I'm delighted with the way the Robin Egg thread plays with Grandiose's colors.

Hopefully over the next few days I'll be able to finish Grandiose and pin baste Enchanted (no. 9 in the Macnas series).  

(and yes, I've been considering quilt ideas to work on once the entire Macnas series is done and dusted - there's a lot of stashed fabric waiting to be used)

Indoors our two Christmas cacti continue to bloom and there are a few more buds ready to open any day now.  

Outdoors, the three clumps of iris that were planted last spring survived the winter and are budded and/or blooming.  The flowers are purple with mottled white areas - so pretty.

The azalea that moved to our house from elder son's yard a few years back is blooming profusely, despite the late freezes.  I only wish the flowers lasted a bit longer (the photo will supersize if you want to see the blossoms in greater detail).

I'll end with this gorgeous sunset photo taken on April 9.  Since then, the trees here are almost fully leafed out and we once again have shade - funny how its absence over the winter months became the norm.

* * *

There's lots of random background stuff going on that isn't blog-worthy yet.  Things like harvesting ephemera from older magazine issues, cleaning and tidying the studio, sorting and gathering bits for three future projects involving paper and glue, household stuff, and errands.  

It's all good but I'm glad I learned long ago to work in bursts in between everything else.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Many of us have made our world so familiar that we do not see it anymore.  An interesting question to ask yourself at night is What did I really see this day?"

John O'Donohue

Friday Check-In

There are now ten rows sewn together for Morning Fog (Macnas series number 11) . . . only eight more rows to go.

Young Man kept us busy when he spent last weekend with us.  This was one of the quieter moments.

And he did indeed give the backyard swing a workout along with completing an unwanted writing assignment for school.

While taking YM home Sunday evening, DH captured this glorious sunset over the Mississippi.

It is no wonder so many riverfront and near-riverfront residents drive their golf carts to the parks to watch the sun set.

* * *

Next week's calendar is not nearly as full as this week's has been, so I seriously hope to get more time in the studio.  Fingers crossed!

Quiltdivajulie

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"BE A WEED!  A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows."

Doug Larson

First Day of Spring

Welcome to Spring 2026.  I know many of you are still dealing with winter-ish weather which is what I grew up with, but here in western Tennessee the new growing season has begun.

This is one of our pot-planted hostas coming up for its third season.  

Yesterday, DH brought home four of the combo planters we use to fill our largest backyard pots.  It makes us so happy to see these from the kitchen window instead of only khaki color grass.

I'm already planning a trip to my favorite garden center to spend time with the newly arriving plants and flowers.

This is an early morning photo of our "eager beaver" hosta.  

Given the success we've had with overwintering in pots, I think we'll add a few more hostas this year. 

Indoors I've swapped out our St. Patrick's Day decor for Easter bunnies and eggs.  When I finished the second scrappy runner made with leftovers from Esperance and Haru, someone asked me what I was going to do with a 110" runner.  This time of year, it lives on the dining room buffet until the next seasonal decor shift when it will return to the back of the rocking chair in my studio.  

* * *

Young Man will be here this weekend for a sleepover.  No rain in the forecast so I'm guessing the backyard swing will see some action along with his scooter.

In the studio, Razzle Dazzle is pin basted and ready for quilting next week while Morning Fog is waiting patiently.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Happiness? The color of it must be spring green.” —Frances Mayes

Finding My Groove Again

The good news is our tax stuff has been handed off to the tax guy and I've finished/sent out draft minutes from the January-but-delayed-into-February board meeting for Davies Manor Historic Site.  

I'm also up to date with my Full Deck Challenge 4 shipping tags - I really like this one.

The not-so-good news is that Young Man has been coping with a high fever since last Saturday.  A home test over the weekend (and then again mid-week by his pediatrician) confirmed Flu-B.  Thankfully, last night (day 6.75) his fever appears to have broken.  

Next week is spring break at his school which means he'll have those extra days to get his mojo back.

During evening play time, I tried something different with this scrappy circles collage.  

This one isn't glued down yet but it will be before the end of the day.

I liked this combination so much I didn't bother adding any smaller circles.

* * *

On the fabric front:  After a few days of pondering the pin-basted quilt sandwich, I have finally chosen thread for Incandescent, wound bobbins, and started quilting.  Hopefully I'll have a finished quilt to share early next week.

* * * 

Outdoors, Mother Nature has been hard at work bringing forth thousands of blossoms on these and other varieties of pink trees and a few gazillion more on the fluffy white Bradford Pear trees our suburban city is known for.  These beautiful spring-flowering trees were one of our happiest discoveries after moving from the snowy north 37 years ago.

Day by day the oak trees are showing more and more of their early-spring lime-green aura which also means Green Season 2026 (aka sticky sickly-yellow-green pollen) has begun.  

AND we shift to Daylight Savings Time this weekend.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Flowers are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Another Week Begins

The morning sunlight was just right a day or so ago and I was able to get a couple of really good photos of the blooming Christmas cacti.

Being landscape in orientation, I can't make this one as large but you can click on it to make it larger.

These make me so happy.

I'm trying hard to notice more moments of goodness and this morning sky filled with the remains of the many jet comtrails that crisscross above Memphis was just too good not to stop and take a photo.  

On my way home, the sky was clear blue so I'm glad I stopped when I did.

In the studio, aside from continuing to put things away that were piled for two weeks, I've managed to create the next four weekly circle collages for my Eclectic Energy journal.  

One more and I'll be caught up through the end of February.

The aquas . . . 

The red violets . . . 

And the blues.

Through an online newsletter, I discovered these STOBOK washi tape holders.

What an awesome way to consolidate and store washi tapes instead of the rolls constantly getting jumbled and-or rolling off the table and onto the floor.  

I love that I can see what I have more easily, too.

Here's where I've gotten so far.  Unfortunately, the repetitive action of wrapping the tapes around the new holders has aggravated my formerly frozen shoulder so I'm taking a break until it calms down again.

I'm loving how these first sets look and they take up literally one-half as much space in this new format.

* * *

I really want to see if I can get Fandango (Macnas no. 7)  quilted before the end of February,  along with at least a dozen other things.  

I know I can't get all of it done, but we shall see what I can manage.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Even in the mud and scum of things, something always, always sings."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Moving Ahead

I've cut out the squares for Ruska's top so Young Man can lay them out (the finished quilt will be for the large ottoman in the living room at his house).  

I'm on the fence with the bright gold on the right - but once the squares are on the design wall, I'll know if it needs to be swapped out for a less-loud fabric (which I anticipate happening). 

I saved the end cuts and will sew them into an insert for the scrappy pieced backing.

(and we will be using the wilder fabric for binding since there was not enough of the brown stripe when I unfolded it)

I've also put out the seasonal decor for February.  The crocheted table cloth being used as a runner on the buffet is one made by my paternal grandmother and the buffet and radio belonged to my maternal grandfather.  The silk quilt on the wall is Azaleas in Bloom made using a design from Sujata Shah's Cultural Fusion book.

The chair in our foyer turned out to be the perfect spot for my long-ago cross stitched piece that became a pillow.  

The quilt on the chair is Ukiyo - which started as a scrappy backing and turned into a quilt in its own right.

I'll finish with this photo taken by younger son as we drove through Shelby Farms.  The herd of buffalo in the trees was just too good to ignore (you can supersize the photo to see the animals more clearly). 

* * *

The snow in our back yard and part of the front is gradually disappearing (the upper part of the front yard is shaded and will take a lot longer to melt).  

The best part is having our entire driveway visible/usable once again.

Quiltdivajulie

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"The rain will stop, the hurt will fade.  Hope is never so lost that it cannot be found."

Ernest Hemingway